Kerry supports striking nurses at Northern Michigan Hospital

John Kerry is supporting registered nurses at Northern Michigan Hospital who have been on strike for 17 months, saying their plight shows how federal law favors employers in labor disputes.

"I was outraged to learn that Northern Michigan Hospital refuses to act in good faith with you," the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee said in a letter to the strikers dated Tuesday.

It was released Thursday by the Teamsters union, which represents nurses at the 243-bed hospital in Petoskey.

"Obviously we think this is wonderful," said Teamsters Local 406 lawyer Ted Iorio. "One of the things he's proposing is binding arbitration, and is basically saying NMH is the poster child on why you've got to have binding arbitration on a contract."

So far, more than 5,000 people have signed a petition encouraging the two parties to use binding arbitration, the Gaylord Catholic Diocese bishop has supported it, Gov. Jennifer Granholm - and other Democratic politicians - have supported it, and the Teamsters have pushed for it.

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Hospital administrators have insisted that they will not open themselves to an arbitrator's decisions on how to run the hospital.

Hospital president and chief executive officer Tom Mroczkowski said Kerry was uninformed when he made his statement in support of striking nurses.

"He is obviously depending on information from the Teamsters, and he did not contact anyone at the hospital," Mroczkowski said. "If he had, we would have provided him with factual information."

Mroczkowski added that he will soon be inviting Kerry to visit the hospital.

"We would love to have an opportunity to talk to him," he said.

Hospital spokesperson Tom Spencer said that Kerry's announcement is not surprising.

"This is very consistent with the other Democratic officials," he said. "We would like to encourage Mr. Kerry to focus on getting the Teamsters to end this strike."

Roughly half of the nursing staff, which then totaled about 470, went on strike Nov. 14, 2002. The walkout has become the nation's longest ever by nurses.

The two sides have met three times in recent months, but no progress has been reported. The hospital says some nurses have returned to work and that just under 200 remain on strike.

Kerry told the strikers he was "proud to stand with you as you fight for improved working conditions, safer staffing levels, and a contract that truly honors your work."

"What happens here in Petoskey will resonate throughout the country, and it will resonate not only because we must do right by our nurses, but also because we cannot begin this new century by discarding the progress made by workers in the last," the Massachusetts senator said.

Kerry is not the first Democratic officeholder to voice sympathy with the strikers.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm criticized the hospital management last October for refusing to bargain and said the failure to reach a settlement was damaging care quality at Northern Michigan. U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Menominee, has raised similar concerns.

Hospital officials insisted that care had not deteriorated and accused their critics of putting the "union agenda" ahead of the best interests of the community.

"The Teamsters have fully utilized the political process to put pressure on us to succumb to their point of view," Spencer said.

In his letter, Kerry said federal labor law is flawed because it requires workers and managers to bargain "in good faith" but has no provisions to ensure that settlements are reached.

That allows employers to "surface bargain for years … to delay the process, demoralize the workers and defeat the union," he said.

"Under my administration, if contract negotiations extend beyond a certain period without achieving a resolution, the matter will be submitted to binding arbitration," Kerry said.